Tripura to be an education hub: Sarkar

Agartala, Aug 24 (UNI) The Tripura government today announced that it would make the state an education hub for both Indian and foreign students.

Addressing the gathering after inaugurating the state's first agriculture college in Lembucherra, about 15 kms from here, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said besides promoting agricultural research, the government wanted to make the state into a focus of learning.

''We had taken up the project in December last year and within eight months, we have been successful in starting a full-fledged college with 20 students and adequate teachers,'' Mr Sarkar said adding that the government was planning to set up a veterinary college next year.

Presently, Tripura has two medical colleges and as many engineering colleges, a fishery college, a law college and 14 general degree colleges along with two universities, including ICFAI.

He, however, stated that more than 65 per cent of the state's population was dependent on agriculture. Keeping this in mind, the government had been working on a ten-year perspective plan on improving agriculture under the guidance of eminent agriculturist Prof M S Swaminathan.

Mr Sarkar also said though rice, milk and horticultural production in Tripura had increased substantially in recent years, the state was still lagging behind in the production of fish and poultry making it dependent on the southern states of the country.

State Agriculture Minister Tapan Chakraborty said the agriculturists were asked to emphasise on high yielding foodgrain varieties, as about 20,000 hectares of cultivable lands were used for non-agricultural activities during the past six years.

''We are happy that the state is developing rapidly. However, we are concerned that agricultural lands are diminishing gradually,'' Mr Chakraborty said adding that at present Tripura has 2.6 lakh hectares of cultivable land which would be the base for attaining self-sufficiency in foodgrain production by 2012.

UNI